Governor signs bill to move Court of Claims

Gov. Rick Snyder has signed a bill that will shake up pending litigation against the state, and legal challenges to some of his administration’s most-controversial policies. The measure moves the Michigan Court of Claims out of the Ingham County circuit. Instead, those cases will be handled by judges on the state Court of Appeals.

“I thought it was an improvement over existing practice, which is very limited in terms of the judges that represent the citizens of our state, so it’s an improvement so I signed it,” said Snyder, adding that one county’s voters should not be choosing judges who make decisions on big claims against the state.

“It really allows statewide representation in terms of judges across the state to hear cases as opposed to the 3 percent of the population that’s represented by Ingham County judges.”

But the new law also moves lawsuits challenging the state’s emergency manager and right-to-work laws out of a venue run by judges elected in a predominantly Democratic county. The Court of Claims was placed in Ingham County four decades ago.